Blog #4

In this blog post, I will discuss my PLN and Inclusion. 

Based on my personal experience, I will talk about my experiences coaching for the UVic Water Polo team. The UVic water polo team consists of a diverse group of like-minded individuals excited and intrigued by the sport. In terms of diversity, the team ranges from beginners to national team athletes, male and female, various ethnic backgrounds, and a range of abilities. This has been a great eye-opening experience being able to coach many students throughout the years. With that, I’ve had my fair share of challenges and obstacles I had to overcome to effectively coach and ensure an inclusive environment. 

Based on the readings and videos from this week’s content, the videos by Five Moore Minutes opened up my perspective on teaching in an inclusive environment. When they highlighted how ‘there is a big divide with education and those with disabilities’, that really stood out to me as there have been a number of students who have participated in UVic water polo with disabilities. This diagram on the evolution of inclusion (Exclusion → Segregation → Integration → Inclusion) is the steps I took to enforce the best learning environment. 

Initially, my first instinct is to be as inclusive as possible to any member of the team. However, with some students, this was not the ideal learning method. This is when I backtracked. I could tell being fully included in the activities was a bit overwhelming causing them to be uncomfortable. In a team sport, if everyone isn’t comfortable, the game cannot continue. This is when I backtracked and segregated the student from the team. In reference to Moore’s video, ‘to make the greatest impact, you must aim for the hardest pins’, pins being students. Therefore coaching them 1V1 is the most effective approach – ensuring all the fundamentals are properly executed and confidence is boosted. From there, I integrated the student back to the team – still giving them pointers, tips, etc. Once that learning barrier was overcome, the student was able to effectively and confidently include themselves back into the team. This experience greatly broadened my views in creating an effective learning environment in the most inclusive way and will help with future teaching experiences.

 The diverse community of UVic Water Polo allows learning from a variety of voices in the room. We all collaborate on what we want to accomplish and learn in a practice. The best teaching outcomes come from hearing the voices of the students. In terms of internal and external tools, we use numerous social media tools (Facebook group chats, Snapchat, WP Instagram page) to help engagement and participation from all athletes. These tools have helped create a more positive, inclusive environment as everyone has a voice in the conversation. 

Based on this week’s readings and videos, my thoughts on inclusion have greatly expanded. I gained knowledge on the evolution of inclusion in teaching which will help me in future teaching roles. Further, in my personal life, I can now evaluate my social PLN’s and make inclusive impacts accordingly.

References:

Moore, S. (2017). One without the other : Stories of unity through diversity and inclusion. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca

Introduction: https://youtu.be/RYtUlU8MjlY

It’s Not Easy Being Green https://youtu.be/MeRNhz0nGts

The Evolution of Inclusion https://youtu.be/PQgXBhPh5Zo